1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to telescopic sights and methods for mounting telescopic sights and, more particularly, to a detachable telescopic sight with a fixed reticle (internal crosshairs, posts, etc.) that may be mounted on more than one firearm without requiring resighting of the firearm after it has been moved from one firearm to another.
2. Description of the Invention Background
It is reported that Sir Isaac Newton was the first person to put a telescope on a gun with which he is said to have experimented extensively for distant shooting. From the early involvement of the renowned physicist in the late 17th and early 18th centuries with a form of an unadjustable telescope permanently mounted to the barrel of the gun, there has been much change and experimentation giving rise to considerable improvement in the optics, adjustability and precision for firearms. This may be similarly true for devices employing the same technology such as surveyor sights. However, even in this 21st century anyone even casually familiar with scoped firearms would note the basic similarity of what is used today with what was used many hundreds of years ago.
Over the years, it appears that roughly three general phases have evolved and coexisted for firearm scopes. These stages were telescope sights with no adjustment, telescope sights with external adjustment and telescope sights with internal adjustment. Originally, following the efforts of Sir Isaac Newton, the gun barrel had affixed permanently to it a form of telescope which was initially adjusted so as to be xe2x80x9czeroedxe2x80x9d to whatever range the customer wanted. If the marksman were to shoot at any other range, he would have to aim the firearm off of the target or bulls eye in some fashion to compensate.
It is reported that by the 1860""s, the beginning of the second phase had started where an external xe2x80x9celevationxe2x80x9d adjustment had developed for raising and lowering the point of impact to compensate for distance and the gravitational effects on the bullet. This was generally accomplished with the use of threaded and clamp screws permitting the rear of the scope to be raised and lowered and/or permitting the front of the scope to be so adjusted.
The exploits of scope equipped sharpshooters in the American Civil War were well reported and are believed to have been a cause for the public""s interest thereafter in scope sighted rifles. The movie xe2x80x9cGettysburgxe2x80x9d shows General Reynolds being shot from a considerable distance by a Confederate sniper using what appeared to be a British Whitworth rifle fitted with one of the various British supplied scopes which permitted this rudimentary elevation adjustment.
The second xe2x80x9cphasexe2x80x9d commenced mostly after the Civil War when firearm scopes were devised that allowed xe2x80x9cexternalxe2x80x9d adjustment of the scope to permit changes in elevation, as well as changes in windage (left to right movement of the point of impact of the projectile). The third phase, and essentially the presently existing phase, started in about the 1930""s when an internal adjustment was provided so that the reticule within the tube of the scope could be moved (originally only for elevation).
Today, most all rifle scopes manufactured in the United States and abroad are of the xe2x80x9cinternal adjustmentxe2x80x9d variety. In these, the tube holding the optical lenses is attached securely with mounts and rings to the rifle (usually the receiver) so that the scope itself cannot move. The required reticule adjustment for elevation and windage occurs internally within the tube by use of knobs on the outside of the tube. The internal adjustment scope of today has certain advantages, particularly in size and sleekness of appearance with fewer outside features. Notwithstanding these advantages it has several notable deficiencies from the more modern externally adjusted variety, which in the target shooting community in the middle 20th century came to be known as xe2x80x9creturn to batteryxe2x80x9d type rifle scopes.
A return to battery type scope typically has a front and rear mount attached to the rifle and the scope tube is free to move forward and then backwards within these mounts. The stability of the tube is maintained by points (including springs) located in each ring. While any number of contact points could be utilized, the preferred approach would be three contact points under pressure thereby utilizing the principle of the xe2x80x9cthree legged stoolxe2x80x9d effect, to thereby assure that the scope tube is returned to where it had been adjusted. Upon recoil of the rifle, the scope moves somewhat forward relative to the rifle as the rifle jolts backward. The scope then is pushed back by the marksman so that it xe2x80x9creturns to battery.xe2x80x9d This permitted movement is useful in preserving the optics from breaking or xe2x80x9cshaking loose.xe2x80x9d The scope itself is often pushed back or xe2x80x9creturned to batteryxe2x80x9d by a spring around and on the outside of the tube of the scope. On the rear mount there is a precision type of industrial micrometer on the top and side which puts pressure on the side of the scope tube to push and hold the scope left or right (windage adjustment) or move it up or down for elevation adjustment. U.S. Pat. No. 2,208,913 to Unertl and U.S. Pat. No. 2,336,107 to Litschert disclose mounting arrangements for return to battery types of scopes.
One optical advantage of the return to battery type scope is that the sighting reticule (often referred to as xe2x80x9ccrosshairsxe2x80x9d) is always centered in the middle of the lens since it cannot move. This is the point where optical performance is believed to be optimal. As is commonly known from photographic experience, the further an image approaches the edge of a lens the more diminished in quality it becomes. With the internal adjustment scopes of today in order to get the point of impact adjusted adequately a shooter often has the scope""s reticule very far off center of the lens. In addition to this optical advantage, the external adjustments of return to battery type scopes permit a greater range of adjustment thereby permitting much longer accurate shots. It is for this reason that many of the return to battery type scopes manufactured in the United States over the last 50 or so years have been sold to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Marine Corps and the Secret Service.
Over the 20th century more and more improvements were made to rifle scopes, including objective lens adjustments to deal with parallax, multiple lens coatings to improve optics, internal reticule adjustments (for both elevation and windage), devices to secure such adjustments from recoil movement, centering of the reticule after adjustment, different types of reticule, lighter weight, stronger materials, computer improved optics, etc. These improvements and changes have made the rifle scopes used by today""s hunters and target shooters a much more usable and effective devise for improving the accuracy of firearms in general, whether for sporting, police or military application.
While much has occurred in the last 100 years to improve rifle scopes, one key aspect has remained the same and unchanged and that is the practice of designing scopes and their mounting mechanisms such that one scope is intentionally and practically xe2x80x9cweddedxe2x80x9d to one rifle. When moving a scope from one firearm to another, the scope must be resighted to the new rifle, most often quite laboriously. It is not uncommon to spend two or three hours or much more and 20 to 80 shells (which could cost $50 to $100 or more) to xe2x80x9csight inxe2x80x9d a scope newly put on a rifle. It has been said that a good rule of thumb for a hunter or target shooter is to spend at least as much on a scope as on the rifle to which it is to be affixed. This presently is a reasonable rule of thumb, and it is easy to see how expensive this becomes if a hunter or a marksman has several rifles to shoot different type and size cartridges for entirely different purposes.
Thus, there is a need for an apparatus and mounting methods whereby a single scope may be moved from firearm to firearm of varying types without requiring tools, gunsmithing services or the normal resighting procedures encountered when using prior apparatuses and methods.
One embodiment of the invention comprises apparatus for removably mounting an optical sighting device to an object. The apparatus may include a first mounting member that is attachable to the object and shaped to support a portion of the optical sighting device therein. A second mounting member may be movably coupled to the first mounting member such that it is selectively movable between a first position wherein the optical sighting device may be supported between the first mounting member and the second mounting member and a second position wherein the optical sighting device may be removed from between the first and second mounting members. The apparatus may further include a windage adjustment member supported on one of the first and second mounting members and an elevation adjustment member supported on one of the first and second mounting members. While it is customary for the elevation and windage adjustment to be toward the rear of the rifle for ease in adjusting them by the marksman, various embodiments of the present invention could just as easily employ the micrometer-type adjustment in the front mount. Other possibilities exist within the overall spirit of the invention such as having the windage micrometer type adjustment in the front and the elevation in the rear or vice versa. A resilient support member may also be supported by one of the first and second mounting members. The object may comprise a surveyor""s device (tripod, etc.) or a firearm. The term xe2x80x9cfirearmxe2x80x9d as used herein may comprise centerfire, rim fire, muzzle loading, etc. rifles, shotguns, pistols, bows, crossbows, and essentially any apparatus that discharges a projectile that must be aimed to hit a desired mark, object, or location. The telescopic device may comprise a telescopic sight with a fixed or adjustable reticle. The reticle may comprise crosshairs that have a center point and a circle whose center coincides with the centerpoint of the crosshairs. However, other reticle arrangements may be employed.
Another embodiment of the present invention comprises a telescopic sight system for firearms that includes a telescopic sight and a front mounting assembly attached to the firearm for detachably supporting a portion of the telescopic sight on the firearm. The system further includes a rear mounting assembly that includes a first rear mounting member attached to the firearm and shaped to support another portion of the telescopic sight therein and a second rear mounting member that is pivotally coupled to the first rear mounting member. The second rear mounting member is selectively pivotable between a first retaining position wherein the another portion of the telescopic sight is supported between the first and second rear mounting members and a second position wherein the another portion of the telescopic sight may be removed from between the first and second rear mounting members. A windage adjustment member is supported on one of the first and second rear mounting members. An elevation adjustment member is also supported on one of the first and second rear mounting members. At least one resilient support member is also mounted to one of the first and second rear mounting members.
Another embodiment of the present invention comprises a method of using a single telescopic sight on a plurality of firearms. One form of the method may include mounting one mounting arrangement on a first firearm, the mounting arrangement comprising a rear mounting assembly for releasably attaching the telescopic sight to the firearm. The rear mounting assembly has elevation and windage adjustment members thereon. The method may further include releasably mounting the telescopic sight in the mounting arrangement and adjusting the windage and elevation adjustment members to orient the telescopic sight in a desired orientation. The method may further include removing the telescopic sight from the mounting arrangement without further adjusting the windage and elevation adjustment members and mounting another mounting arrangement on another firearm. The another mounting arrangement comprises another rear mounting assembly for releasably attaching the telescopic sight to the another firearm. The another rear mounting assembly also has another elevation and windage adjustment members thereon. In addition, the method may include releasably mounting the telescopic sight in the another mounting arrangement and adjusting the another windage and elevation adjustment members to orient the telescopic sight in another desired orientation on the second firearm. Thereafter, the telescopic sight may be removed from the another mounting arrangement without further adjusting the another windage and elevation adjustment members and remounting the telescopic sight to the first mounting arrangement such that the telescopic sight is in the desired orientation without readjusting the elevation and windage adjustment members.